Author's Note: I don't know if I should be telling this, it might come up later in the story, but I just wanted to explain Nell marrying Lionel. First off, haven't you noticed how cold Nell can be sometimes when it comes to how Lana feels? She kind of reminds me of how Lionel treats Lex. I know she's not that bad, but she is just shallow enough to not care about how cruel Lionel can be. Anyway, it's just a thought I had the other night, while I was re-watching Leech and Kinetic. Also, I wanted some way to make Lex and Lana close that wasn't romantic for them. I love their relationship dynamic in the show. He doesn't seem to have any romantic feelings for her, but at the same time he seems to know just what buttons to push, kinda like a big brother. Well, now that I have that off my chest, back to the show…



"Dammit, where'd I put my shoes?" Chloe was rifling through her closet when her doorbell rang. Why hadn't she given Clark a key yet?

When she opened the door, she was greeted by what looked to be two-dozen red roses. "Clark! You shouldn't have!"

"I know, but I wanted to. Tonight is a special night, and I wanted to start it off right." He stepped inside the door, throwing his overcoat over the back of her couch. "You ready to go?"

"I will be, as soon as you get your cute butt in here and help me find my shoes." She grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs. About two minutes later, they were both standing at the door, Chloe putting on her light jacket. Fro the end of August, it was unusually cold.

"You look very beautiful!" Clark helped her with her sleeve before racing into the kitchen for a pitcher of water for the flowers. "Thought we better get these in water, don't want them to die."

"You're not looking so bad yourself." Chloe pinched Clark on the butt, but he didn't really feel it and merely leaned down to kiss her. "Let's get going before we make ourselves late."

When they arrived at the Metropolis Conservatory, a valet took their car and Clark and Chloe made their way inside. They were probably the last to arrive no one seemed to notice.

"Clark, Chloe," Lex saw them enter the room. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten distracted."

Clark blushed at his friend's insinuation, but Chloe just seemed to beam. "If we'd gotten distracted Lex, we wouldn't be here at all."

"Well, that's a bit more information than I wanted." Lex grabbed them both a glass of champagne from one of the circulating waiters. "Anyway, there's someone waiting to see you guys."

Lex led them over to a group of ladies that were huddled around someone, intently listening to whatever story he or she was telling. He managed to fight his way through the throng and get the speakers attention. When she stood up, Clark and Chloe both lost their breath, though for different reasons.

"Lana!" Clark swept up to his ex ad quickly embraced her. "You're back. How long?"

"Yeah, and how was the Continent?" Chloe quickly wrapped her arm through Clarks and pulled him close.

"Well, I've been back since Monday. I wanted to surprise you tonight, so I didn't call." She sat down her Champagne and gave Chloe a quick hug. "So, tell me. Good surprise or bad surprise."

Chloe knew what she wanted to say, but luckily Clark answered first. "Definitely a good surprise. I wondered who Lex could have been talking about the other day."

"Yeah, I told her about your heroics. She had the same reaction that Chloe and I did." Lex took a sip from his Brandy glass.

"You can definitely count me in for one of those shirts." Lana flashed a big smile at Clark and he began to blush again.

Before the conversation could go any further, one of the waiters came and whispered something in Lex's ear. "I'm sorry to run, but my date for the evening has just arrived. I'll be right back."

"Date?" Chloe and Clark looked at Lana.

"Hey, I'm sworn to secrecy." She smiled and raised her glass to take a drink.



"Miss Lane." Lex took Lois's hand and kissed it as one of the doormen took her wrap. "I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer."

"I have to admit that I am rather curious. I've been contacting your office for the past six months, but you've refused all of my requests for an interview. Now, you call me up this morning to ask me to this benefit. What's the deal?" Lois could barely contain her astonishment at finally having the chance to meet The Lex Luthor.

"Well, I stopped by the parking garage the other day to check on my friend Clark, and I saw you. I have to admit that you are quite beautiful, and that is why I invited you tonight; well that coupled with the fact that you intrigue me." Lex smiled and offered his hand to Lois. She took it and they walked back towards Clark, Chloe, and Lana.

"Mr. Luthor." Lex heard a voice calling his name and turned to see who it was.

"Well, if it isn't young Dick Grayson. Please, call me Lex." He extended his hand to shake the young man's. "I see that Bruce's replacement has arrived."

"Bruce said that he would try to make it tonight, but he wasn't sure. There were some things that he had to take care of before he come." Dick kept stealing glances at Lois. Lex finally decided to introduce them.

"Oh, Dick, this is Lois Lane, a reporter for the Daily Planet, and Lois, this is…" Lois interrupted him before he could finish.

"Dick Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne. You may not remember me, but we've met. Not lone after you came to stay with Bruce, I visited him for an interview and he introduced us." Lois extended her hand.

"I'm afraid I don't, Miss Lane, but I shall surely berate myself in private later for that oversight." He smiled at her and then turned his attention back to Lex. "Bruce wanted to know if we could hold off on the check presentation until the latest moment possible. He'd really like to be here."

"We'll see." Lex took Lois's hand in his. "I'll talk to you later, Dick. Right now, Miss Lane and I have some friends waiting for us."

With that, he and Lois turned and finished their trip over to the small group gathered at the front of the room.

"Lois?" Clark's look of surprise was plainly evident on his face. "What are you doing here? You're Lex's date?"

"Date? No…I'm just…Lex called me this morning and asked me to come." She began to blush at the thought of actually being on a date with Lex Luthor. "How could I say no, after all I told you the other day I've been trying to interview him for the past six months."

"So, now that the gang's all here…" Lex took Lois's hand and turned towards the dance floor. "May I have this dance?"

"Why, yes, Mr. Luthor." Lois turned and did a mock-curtsy. Lex could barely keep from laughing.

"Please, call me Lex." He shot her a smile, complete with a wink.

As they made their way to the dance floor, Chloe turned to Clark. "Why did Lex have to invite her? I was looking forward to spending a night on the town with you."

"We could always just let her know about us. She's going to figure it you sooner or later." Clark took her hand and made his way over to the dance floor, twirling her before taking her in his arms.

"Why, Mr. Kent, is that a proposition?" Chloe smiled and stared into Clark's eyes.

"Only if you say yes." No sooner had the words escaped his mouth than their lips met. It was only a light kiss, but it gave Clark his answer. He simply smiled and danced Chloe further onto the dance floor.

Lana stood, alone by the main tables in the front of the room, watching Chloe and Clark as they kissed and then danced out onto the dance floor. There was her answer. They were still together. She'd seen enough and turned to make her exit when a hand caught her shoulder.

"And just where do you think you are going, Lana?" The voice was strong and Lana recognized it instantly.

"Pete!" She turned and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Did you just get here?"

"Unfortunately, no. I've been here for the past two hours finalizing the details for this donation. Working with a bunch of LuthorCorp and Wayne Enterprises Lawyers is not my idea of the ideal way to spend an evening." He took Lana's other hand in his. "Would you like dance?"

Lana glanced out onto the dance floor at Chloe and Clark and then to Lex and Lois. "Sure, Pete, I'd love to."

***********************************

"There's still no sign of them." Dick Grayson was in one of the anterior hallways to the ballroom, talking into the cuff of his tuxedo coat. "Any luck on your end?"

"None yet, but all the evidence I've been able to gather up to this point leads me here. There's something, or someone, that they want in that Museum tonight." The voice was deep and coarse, almost feral. "You just keep an eye on the Mayor and the people around them. Let me know if anything gets weird."

"No problem, Bruce. I'll see you later."

Back inside the ballroom, everything seemed to be going absolutely according to plan. People were enjoying themselves, talking, laughing, and dancing. Suddenly, an explosion ripped through a far corner of the room. People were running, screaming from the room, as a gaping hole was opened up in the ground. Immediately, men with guns began firing into the room. Clark, Chloe, Lana, and Pete were knocked from their feet by the blast, but quickly got up. Clark and Pete ran the women towards the exit and out into the street. As they did, Clark looked up and saw a black figure sweeping down onto the roof of the Conservatory.

He turned to Chloe; making sure she was all right, he pulled her away from Pete and Lana. "I'm going to go check this out."

"Be careful, don't let anyone see you." She leaned up and kissed him.

After the kiss was broken, he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, I've got that covered."

As a look of realization spread across Chloe's face, Clark walked away and across the street. She watched him, glancing around to see if anyone else was paying any attention to him. They weren't. They were too consumed by what was going on to be concerned about where Clark was going. Even Lana and Pete were huddling in each other's arms. When she turned to look at Clark again, he was gone. "I hope he knows what he is doing."

"Chloe?" Chloe turned to face Lana. "Chloe, where's Clark?"

"He went to get help." Chloe quickly lied. "He's ok."

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Lana suddenly became even more panicked. "Where's Lex? Oh my God, he must still be inside. He and Lois were closer to the explosion. Oh my god, what if he's dead?"

Pete and Chloe both took Lana in their arms, trying calm her. Each reassured her that Lex would be fine, even though neither of them knew for sure. Just as they were telling her that Lex and Lois were probably out here, already looking for them, there was a flash in front of them. Chloe looked up to see a man clad in a blue and red suit. She pulled in her breath.



Clark steadied himself before pushing through the doors to the Conservatory. He sped into the ballroom, where a hail of bullets greeted him. He scanned the room, looking for their intended target when he finally spotted it. In one of the upper, darkened corners of the room, near the ceiling, was Batman. Clark could tell that the gunmen had no idea where he was, so he strode into the room, hoping to give Batman a chance to move from his current position.

"Ok, I think this has gone far enough!" Clark shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the walls to shake.

"Who the hell?" All of the men turned to face their new guest. That was when Clark noticed something that made him stop in his place. Near the hole in the floor, one of the gunmen was holding Lex and Lois, along with some other man that Clark didn't immediately recognize but then realized was Dick Grayson. Suddenly, the hail of bullets erupted again; only this time the men could see their target—Clark.

The room quickly filled with a cloud of smoke, and Clark use it as a chance to fly up to the ceiling and check in with Batman before he made any other moves. He didn't want to risk getting Lex, Lois, or Dick killed. When the smoke finally cleared, the men were dumbfounded by Clark's disappearance and just stood there holding their guns.

"And just who the hell are you?" Batman looked over at the newly arrived man in the red cape and blue suit as the two met on the roof of the Conservatory.

"We don't have time for that right now, Bruce. We need to save those people." Clark caught himself when he realized he'd said Bruce instead of Batman.

"Bruce? How did you…" Bruce focused his gaze on the man in front of him. "Clark?"

"Yeah, but before we get into the whole story, can we please save our friends?"

"Not a problem."

Only two minutes later, Clark once again strode in through the front door. This time, though, the gunmen were ready and let loose a slew of bullets. They simply watched as each bullet merely bounced off of their intended target and he continued to walk forward toward them. The man that was guarding the hostages was so focused on Clark, that he didn't notice Batman descending behind him. Before he new what had happened, he was laid out on the floor. Bruce quickly began to untie Lex, Lois and Dick and led them out into one of the side halls.

"Who is that guy, Batman?" Lois asked as soon as Bruce undid the tape that was covering her mouth. "I don't know, Miss Lane. I just met him."

Back in the ballroom, the remaining gunmen didn't know what was going on. The soon dropped their guns and began running for the hole. Before they could get there, however, Clark was in front of them blocking their exit. He grabbed the ropes that had been used to tie up his friends and Dick and proceeded to wrap their assailants. After he was finished, he looked up to see Batman standing beside him.

"Good work. Does this mean that I can stop pulling double shifts and stick to Gotham?" He smiled under his cowl and Clark smiled back.

"I don't know about full time, but I think it is safe to say that you won't be needed in Metropolis as often." Clark reached out to shake his friend's hand. "Right now, though, I need to go. Watch them, will you?"

"Will do…" Bruce paused. "What are we supposed to call you?"

"I don't know," Clark replied as he flew toward the skylight. "I haven't given that any thought."

At that, Clark took of like a silver bullet, streaking out of the Conservatory just as Lex, Lois, and Dick reentered the room to find the gunmen subdued.

"Did you get a name, Batman?" It was Lois again.

"He said he hadn't thought of one yet." Batman replied, flatly.

"Sounds like an invitation to me." Lois smiled and reached into her purse to find her notepad.



Outside, Chloe, Lana, and Pete waited anxiously for any word on their friends. They were startled a bit, when Clark reappeared behind them just as the police arrived and stormed inside the building.

"You made it back!" Chloe wrapped her arms around Clark and kissed him.

"Is Lana ok?" Clark asked after glancing over at her and Pete.

"She's worried about Lex, we all are." Chloe put her hand in Clark's, pulling him closer to her. "He hasn't made it out of the building yet."

As she said this, Clark pointed to the building. "Look, there they are!"

Lana heard this and looked up. When she saw Lex, she broke free of Pete's arms and made a beeline for her brother. When she got to him, she wrapped her arms around him. He returned her embrace, and Lois made her way down to her co-workers. Dick merely walked over to his limousine and got in.

"You guys are not going to believe what just happened in there." Lois's voice started going a mile-a-minute, and Clark and Chloe had trouble keeping up. She relayed the start of the fiasco, and how she, Lex, and Dick had been captured and tied up. Then she talked about Batman trying to rescue them but having to flee to avoid being shot. "Then there was this, this…superman, who came in and when the men shot at him the bullets just bounced right off. Then, he tied them all up and flew away."

"That sounds incredible, Lois." Clark took her hand to try and get her to quit shaking. "I'm guessing you want to write the story about this one?"

"If the two of you wouldn't mind?" Lois smiled back and Clark and looked longingly to Chloe.

"Of course we don't mind. After all, you were the one who saw it all." Chloe put her arm around Lois and walked her to Clark's car. "Right now, though, why don't we get you checked out and then home. You've had a long night."

"I think that's a great idea. Come on, Lois." Clark opened the rear passenger door to his car and helped Chloe place the still shaken Lois in the back seat. Once they were all three in the car, Clark took Lois to a nearby hospital where she was given a clean bill of health and a couple tranquilizers before being sent home. Clark didn't know exactly how she was going to manage to get an article in before the paper went to press, but she assured him that she could do it. He and Chloe simply dropped her off at her apartment and walked her to the door. There, they told her goodnight and finally made their way back to Clark's apartment.

Once they were inside, Chloe finally asked the question she'd been dying to ask ever since the Conservatory. "You used the suit?"

Clark noticed the smile on her face and undid the buttons on the front of his tuxedo revealing the gold "S" set against its blue background.

"Does this mean that I'm now in love with a real, live superhero?" Chloe made fluttery eyes at Clark. He wasn't about to be made fun of and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her into the bedroom. Her giggles growing louder after he shut the door.

*Next Chapter, Headlines…I'll leave that one up to your imaginations*